Autism, Children, and Diet: A Brain-Gut Connection

Recent research in autism spectrum disorders, or ASD, points to increasing findings that autism isn't just in the brain-it's also in the gut.

Some doctors have speculated for more than a decade that biomedical and dietary interventions can help, and even reverse, some symptoms of ASD. These doctors, called "Defeat Autism Now!" or DAN! Doctors, have worked with parents to change autistic children's diets, include supplements and minerals to meet deficiencies, and also worked on removing heavy metals such as mercury and aluminum from these kids through a process called chelation.

All of these methods have not been without controversy; Defeat Autism Now! Doctors are often belittled by their mainstream colleagues, and leading research centers such as Yale include warning articles on their websites about biomedical and alternative interventions for this disorder.

However, recent research is proving DAN! Doctors right. Some genetic studies have shown that autistic kids have genes that affect the digestive tract in a negative manner. Other genetic research shows that while a child may carry an ASD gene, it is only triggered through an environmental event. Diet and food allergies could trigger these genes, and the theory that diet may reverse symptoms goes along with this new research.

In addition, while the standard alternative diet for kids with ASD, the gluten-free, casein-free diet, has only been shown to be effective through anecdotal evidence, and not through research, digestive research is beginning to show why autism responds well to the GFCF diet. Autistic patients have much higher rates of digestive problems. Autistic enterocolitis, a form of colitis that strikes autistic children, can wreak havoc on children with autism and their digestive tracts. By eliminating food that is difficult to digest, such children can experience profound physical, social, and emotional improvement.

If autistic children can be helped by diet, why aren't more mainstream doctors getting on board and treating children with the GFCF diet, or anti-inflammatory drugs for the small intestine and colon, or supplementing children's mineral and vitamin deficiencies? An article on ASD found in the April 2007 edition of Discover Magazine holds a key to this seeming paradox: many mainstream medical doctors and researchers with children with ASD use alternative approaches themselves, but refuse to go on the record and name themselves as endorsers of such approaches. The paradox is alarming.

Many parents of children with autism approach dietary and biomedical intervention with the attitude that if it isn't dangerous, it's worth trying. Medical science is beginning to show that it might be dangerous NOT to try; alternative approaches are gaining credibility in the treatment of autism.